My thoughts on the draft

[Taz]

Well the first draft under Chippy Kelly and Eddie Manowitz is in the books. Color me unimpressed. The draft started out promising but after the first two rounds it was as close to a disaster as you can get. The Eagles had clear needs going into this draft, CB, Safety, WR, Offensive line, OLB and in the case of Offensive Line and S/CB multiples were needed. I also thought that adding a developmental QB might be in the offering. By reaching for Hicks in the 3rd round and adding to an already crowded ILB position the Eagles failed to adequately address their needs. Here are my overall thoughts on each player drafted.

1. Nelson Agholor Wr USC - This is one pick that I absolutely love. The kid can flat out play. The more I look at him the more I see a Reggie Wayne type player. At pick 20 you really can't argue this.

2. Eric Rowe CB - Utah - From what I have seen of his highlights I like the way this guy plays, smooth but physical player. Reminds me a lot of Bryon Maxwell, which is a good thing especially in this defense. I really like the fact he can play safety also. In fact he may very weill end up there if one of the other corners can step and show they are starting quality. He starts day one

After these two picks I had the Eagles as having an A- draft, they properly gauged where Rowe would go however I thought giving up both the fives was probably a little too much.

3. Jordan Hicks ILB Texas - Initially I didn't like the pick, they simply don't need any more ILB. After watching more tape on his, I still don't like the pick. I just don't see it. He will be on this team only because he was a draft pick, my guess is he will be out of the league in 3 years. He has a major injury background also.

After this pick I downgraded them to a B-

4. Traded for a 3rd next year. On the surface it looks like a great deal. Especially after wasting a 2nd round pick on a one legged QB. However at the end of the day it was not a wise move and it was perpetuated by the mistake in round 3. When you don't have any fifth round picks you simply can't trade out of the draft.

After this I downgraded them to a D+ for mismanaging the draft after the 2nd round. You can't build a team around two draft picks per year

6. JaCorey Sheppard CB Kansas - Good value pick, I thought he had a chance to go in round 4. However there are always reasons why guys like this fall. He has a chance to play on the practice squad this year and maybe be a backup CB for this team in the future.

6. Randall Evans CB/S Kansas State - Back to the land of the wizard of oz for another cb pick. Just another flyer or what I call throwing some more shit against the wall to see what sticks.

After this round I upgraded them to a C- because between Sheppard and Evans they might wind up with a special teams type player and for round 6 that is not bad.

7. Brian Mihalik DE Boston College - zero chance to make this team, basically a throw away pick. Could end up on the practice squad.

Overall I give this team a C- for this draft. They had four very clear needs going into this draft, WR, CB, Safety, Offensive line, then they needed to add some depth to the OLB. They achieved 50% of what they needed to do and that is not good enough. They sat out too many rounds and rounds that make the difference between good drafts and bad draft. Right now this draft has a real chance to be a bad one. Even if Ahgolor and Rowe reach their full potential.

 

[deerpathdave]

Lol. I always find it ironic that the less informed feel the need to grade the more informed. If anything we should all be grading our Mocks against what really happened.

 

[old duke]

O Ye of little faith, Taz. Haven't some of us learned from Howie and Andy, not to draft for need? You need to draft the BPA, especially in areas of need, not the other way around. Nate Allen v.s Earl Thomas, who we know was the perfect pick, but Reid wanted to "throw more fastballs", in Graham. Danny Watkins, because he was a man v.s boys @ Baylor, because he was 26 years old v.s 20 year old opponents. Jacquin (sp) Jarrett? And on, and on. Daniel Neo'Nesheim, etc. Off the top of my head, there are many. many others like these examples. I'm sure Rey, Wings, and B4L can rattle off many others.
Jordan Hicks was by far the BPA on the Eagles' board, so they didn't pass him up to take a lesser rated OL. If Kendricks gets traded, and Demeco doesn't hold up physically, we would not have very good replacements, hence Hicks.
In addition to the picks, we got many undrafted free agents, and I believe that several will make the team. Is Chip doing a makeover? You bet he is.

I give Chip an A-, and will upgrade to an A+, if we get La'el Collins.

Keep the faith, until proven otherwise.

 

[L.Freamon]

I thought it was a fairly "safe" draft. I also think if Howie was still here, the draft would have been very similar to this one.

For me it's clear, Howie was moved because he didn't approve of giving up everything to get Mariota. Chip either didn't believe him or flat our disagreed and told Lurie, "him or me". Chip won, tried and failed to get Mariota, and ended up doing exactly what Howie would have done.

At least he didn't royally fuck up the draft in the process.

 

[L.Freamon]

O Ye of little faith, Taz. Haven't some of us learned from Howie and Andy, not to draft for need? You need to draft the BPA, especially in areas of need, not the other way around. Nate Allen v.s Earl Thomas, who we know was the perfect pick, but Reid wanted to "throw more fastballs", in Graham. Danny Watkins, because he was a man v.s boys @ Baylor, because he was 26 years old v.s 20 year old opponents. Jacquin (sp) Jarrett? And on, and on. Daniel Neo'Nesheim, etc. Off the top of my head, there are many. many others like these examples. I'm sure Rey, Wings, and B4L can rattle off many others.
Jordan Hicks was by far the BPA on the Eagles' board, so they didn't pass him up to take a lesser rated OL. If Kendricks gets traded, and Demeco doesn't hold up physically, we would not have very good replacements, hence Hicks.
In addition to the picks, we got many undrafted free agents, and I believe that several will make the team. Is Chip doing a makeover? You bet he is.

I give Chip an A-, and will upgrade to an A+, if we get La'el Collins.

Keep the faith, until proven otherwise.

If a bunch of UDFA make the team...that doesn't speak well for who's already on the team.

Also, you don't think Hicks is a little undersized for an NFL ILB?

 

[Rey]

When grading I always put more emphasis on the top 2 drafted players because those are the guys expected to be starters ... and I think the Eagles got excellent players with those 2 picks. We got the 4th best WR (imo) in one of the best WR drafts we've seen in a while; fit-wise only Amari Cooper may have been a better fit than Agholor. I think he will help us immensely off the bat from the slot, outside and in the return game. In Rd 2 I don't mind one bit having given up the 2 fifth's to move up for Eric Rowe ... he would not have lasted till 20 as the Bills would have taken him two picks before us. We would have ended up with Darby (taken by the Bills) who imo isn't anywhere as good as Rowe (who is much more diverse).

I still don't understand the Hicks pick ... I really just don't understand their thinking on the position. You extend damaged, older goods in DeMeco Ryans when you could have just cut him and saved a ton of money under the cap. Ryans was a 2 down player before getting hurt who had already reached peak performance years. Kendricks is heading into his prime (still only 24) while showing improvement every year. He missed 4 games last season (which Chip keeps bringing up), but he had started 29 out of a possible 30 games prior to last season. Then you have Kiko who you just traded for ... so even if you let Kendricks walk next season you still have your two starters in Ryans and Kiko. So why the immediate need for a backup as high as we took one? The move would make sense if we were moving Kiko to OLB, but that's not happening with starters set at both positions. Is Hicks "that" good? I'm no scout, but I do watch college football and film like it was my job ... and Hicks does not strike me as any kind of steal where they got him.

The trade of our 4th for a 3rd next year I'm ok with ... especially when Clemmings, Tre Jackson and Kuondjio went back to back to back right in front of us. I'm pretty sure one of those guys was our target there.

The rest of the draft I'm ok with ... I really like the Shepherd pick the more I investigate it. The kid's instincts are off the charts and he may very well end up a starting Corner in this league. Especially if Rowe ends up as a Safety. I also like our free agent WR's ... while those guys are always longshots, they are better than average longshots.

If you can end up with 3 solid starters from any draft you're doing well.

Overall Draft Grade: B

 

[Taz]

Rey I agree with the if you get 3 solid starters in a draft its a good draft. After Agholor and Rowe I don't see any starters, what I see is the possibility of some special teams players. That is the rub here, is they just didn't run the draft well after the 2nd round. That is why I downgraded them so much. If they would have selected Clemons or Jackson or Koujando or Daryl Williams in the 3rd round they could have still traded the 4th round pick and I would have given them a much higher grade. Two years in a row they have not addressed an aging offensive line. On top of that they had their QB last year get killed behind the patchwork line, now they have a brittle one legged QB who they are going to put behind what should be a solid oline if healthy and if Mathis is here. If Mathis is gone or if they get any injury, they are in serious trouble, just like last year.

 

[old duke]

I could very well be wrong about Hicks, but I believe Chip in that he was far and away higher on their board than anybody else in the 3rd round when their turn came up. We'll see. I like his character and leadership skills (liken to Demeco). I see character as important as any other check point with the Eagles in all their picks. He could be a team leader after Demeco leaves. That is what he was at Texas - a leader. He wasn't a spectacular player, but solid. We have been critical of the Eagles before, not emphasizing LB very high. Now that Chip does, we critisize him for that? We will now have depth at ILB, and don't know who will leave or get injured. Thank God we have depth! We should get a couple of OL with the UFA's we signed, that could unseat some current backups we have but don't like that much. Time will tell.

 

[deerpathdave]

I am feeling pretty good about this team....

- RB, TE, & DL were all well stocked going into the draft. I think they are set at those positions for a while.
- QB. Its quite a luxury to have 2 top 5 picks and 2 Heisman winners as your QBs. Bradford is the wildcard. If he is healthy and successful, we will be talking deep playoff runs for years to come. If not, Sanchez is better than most give him credit for. And we will be talking QB in next year's draft.
- WR. This is another position we can probably strike off the draft list for the next several years now. A number 1, 2 and 3 in the last two drafts, along with a former pro bowler.
- OL. Top 5 in the league today, with three starters over 30. Next year's draft will be all about the line IMO.

- OLB. Barwin and Graham are good starters, but you need that third guy to rotate in, and a 265 lb Marcus Smith could be just the guy. The fact that they did NOT draft an OLB, makes me think that they are happy with his progress. Contingency plans could involve using Kiko outside?
- ILB. Last year, they had nothing behind the starters. This year, they go 5 deep. I think we learned that this is Kendrick's last year. I think they kind of like him, but also don't want to pay him, so either next year or the year after, the starters could be Jordan and Kiko.
- Safety. Probably 6 different guys now that could end up manning that 2nd Safety position. There are strength in numbers and I am hopeful training camp sorts it out. I also think you can't rule out setting up a fun defensive alignment that has three ILBs and 1 Safety. Put your 11 best on the field.
- Corner. Starters hopefully set for years to come, as well as the backups with an infusion of young talent.

The three soft spots on this team.

QB. When your upside potential is #1 pick in the draft, Heisman Winner, ROY, its pretty exciting. When your downside risk is Sanchez, you are not in terrible shape.
OL. When your "soft spot" is also arguably the team's strongest position how bad can it be? Just need to stay healthy and develop the young guys. I think they like Barbre, Tobin and Gardner more than we gave them credit for? Next year's draft could be OL 1, 3, 3.
Safety. Lots of guys now. Lots of time to figure it out.

 

[Deano]

I always love when one of you guys says you 'watched tape' on a player. What the hell is that? A few YouTube highlight clips? You are mocking educated position coaches and scouts who spent hundreds of hours watching real game tape (and know what to look for). You can often see more about a player watching what he does on plays where the ball is nowhere near him.

 

[Rey]

Our backup OL is garbage and we have two old starters ... I think addressing that area was more important than an ILB who will be 4th on the depth chart. Plus if Kendricks goes out and has a Pro Bowl season (like is very possible considering he's just now heading into his prime years and playing for a new contract) ... are we just going to say ... see ya later because we drafted Hicks?

 

[djm]

I am pretty happy with the draft. We lost Maclin so picking Agholor was something we were forced to do. I am excited to see him play. Rowe is a really good player as well. We all wanted a WR, CB and a Safety. We are loaded with them now.

The secondary was a big weakness last year and with all the additions this year we should be much improved. Kiko made Mathews a Viking so our third pick means Acho or Goode may be next.

I give this draft an B+. I would have like to see some O-lineman but we are ok for this year. If Branford plays well the offseason gets and A+!

 

[Rey]

I always love when one of you guys says you 'watched tape' on a player. What the hell is that? A few YouTube highlight clips? You are mocking educated position coaches and scouts who spent hundreds of hours watching real game tape (and know what to look for). You can often see more about a player watching what he does on plays where the ball is nowhere near him.

Yet a few of us here hit on just as many or more picks than the guys watching all the stuff we don't see.

 

[Wings]

Lol. I always find it ironic that the less informed feel the need to grade the more informed. If anything we should all be grading our Mocks against what really happened.

Lol. I always find it ironic that the less informed feel the need to grade the more informed. If anything we should all be grading our Mocks against what really happened.

Taz has the right to his opinion.

Personally, I didn't understand the Hicks pick, but the kid can flat out ball. And he was by far the highest rated players on Chips board... So he took BPA I get that. I thought the trade with the Lions was ok, however for me Josh Shaw should have been selected and your gonna watch that kid turn into a star with the Bengals. just my opinion. I thought we got great value in the 6th round with both db's and the 7th RD De has great size and upside. I grade this draft as a solid B.

 

[Iggloo]

Hicks can play (if he stays healthy) but that pick was the beginning of a very lackluster two thirds to this draft.

Time will tell whether these kids can play or not, impossible to judge right now. But what is not impossible to judge is that they only came out of the draft with a small number of prospects, most of whom are not remotely capable of being immediate impact players. You basically have two impact players, and then some depth guys and projects. That's not a recipe for making big strides forward this season.

All in all, I think this team's upside is probably another 10-6 season, assuming Bradford pans out. If he does not, I think we are looking at a 6-10 season in Philly while Dallas wins the division again and moves beyond us.

 

[Wings]

I always love when one of you guys says you 'watched tape' on a player. What the hell is that? A few YouTube highlight clips? You are mocking educated position coaches and scouts who spent hundreds of hours watching real game tape (and know what to look for). You can often see more about a player watching what he does on plays where the ball is nowhere near him.

I always love when one of you guys says you 'watched tape' on a player. What the hell is that? A few YouTube highlight clips? You are mocking educated position coaches and scouts who spent hundreds of hours watching real game tape (and know what to look for). You can often see more about a player watching what he does on plays where the ball is nowhere near him.

Deano I have given you people the websites 10 times over on where to watch game tape not Highlights... I also gave everyone the website I have to watch College games and have the ability to stop, rewind and fast forward through stuff. I can only speak for myself but between watching games. Watching Tape, watching games online in the quick mode I can tell you with great certainty that our first 2 picks are Homeruns... The other selections I have only watched quick tape on and I'm not prepared yet to give a solid opinion on. I still feel Chip is a brilliant man, and for me "IN CHIP I TRUST".

 

[eaglesnut]

Big plays on offense and defense defense defense. What's not to like. The shitiest spot on the team was the secondary and we upgraded the shit out of it. Any of those guys could potentially compete at safety as well as what they'll bring to the corner depth.

Furthermore we got ourselves in a pickle last year playing Casey freakin Matthews. That won't happen again. Now we go 6 deep there. It was obviously a spot of emphasis this offseason and when one we liked was available for us in the draft we took him. Chip and Billy don't want to be short there again. Also, and this cannot be overstated, NOW WE HAVE SOME YOUNG ILBs THAT CAN COVER!

A terrific draft overall.

 

[Iron Eagle]

My only real disappointment is not getting a qb/Olineman to groom.

 

[old duke]

Big plays on offense and defense defense defense. What's not to like. The shitiest spot on the team was the secondary and we upgraded the shit out of it. Any of those guys could potentially compete at safety as well as what they'll bring to the corner depth.

Furthermore we got ourselves in a pickle last year playing Casey freakin Matthews. That won't happen again. Now we go 6 deep there. It was obviously a spot of emphasis this offseason and when one we liked was available for us in the draft we took him. Chip and Billy don't want to be short there again. Also, and this cannot be overstated, NOW WE HAVE SOME YOUNG ILBs THAT CAN COVER!

A terrific draft overall.

.

 

[deerpathdave]

Taz has the right to his opinion.

Personally, I didn't understand the Hicks pick, but the kid can flat out ball. And he was by far the highest rated players on Chips board... So he took BPA I get that. I thought the trade with the Lions was ok, however for me Josh Shaw should have been selected and your gonna watch that kid turn into a star with the Bengals. just my opinion. I thought we got great value in the 6th round with both db's and the 7th RD De has great size and upside. I grade this draft as a solid B.

We all are entitled to our opinion. I just think its healthy if we understand that our opinions are coming from less informed places than the guys that made the decisions. We all do Mock Drafts, then rate the real draft based on how it compares with our mock. In reality, we should be doing just the opposite. Rating our mock based on how it compares with reality.

This is a great learning moment for all of us post draft as we are now all post speculation and all the teams have tipped their hands on what they really think. Rather than dismiss them as idiots, its fairer to consider them as smarter (or at least knowing more), and try to learn from what they did.

I think we learned that none of the OL available in the third or fourth round were going to be good enough to start for this team, or even likely to be gameday active, while Hicks evidently is considered to be a legit player. We also learned that Ryans and Kendricks are both likely on their last contracts, so another one was needed when you think more than one year down the road. So they drafted the LB, traded away the 4 for a 3, and next year they get the OL fixed for long term. I think we can all agree that this is Mathis's last contract.